Carolyn Woodard covers a cultural moment that's been building quietly, resistance to AI among workers, young people, and nonprofits, and connects it to a research framework for thinking honestly about AI's real environmental costs and benefits. Both threads come back to the same core question: who benefits from AI, and on what terms?

This episode also introduces a three-lens approach to help nonprofits think through the environmental impact of their own AI use, and suggests why "I'm just against AI" may be a values signal worth listening to rather than a training problem to fix.

This episode covers:

The Summer of Ludd, an 8-day festival in New York City, and what the original Luddite movement was actually about: skilled workers organizing against technology being used to enrich owners at workers' expense.
Why some nonprofit staff, especially younger workers, are pushing back on AI, and why it's worth asking what's behind that resistance before trying to fix it.
Researcher Jennifer Turliuk's net climate impact framework, and her core observation: AI harms are measurable now, but most benefits are still speculative. Including as full a picture of the cons and pros will help organizations make thoughtful AI use decisions.
Three lenses for evaluating your own AI use: what you're asking AI to do, where you are, and how you will benefit from using the AI.
DC Public Library's free in-person "AI & Us" series focusing on "invisible" communities and AI.

Resources Mentioned:

Summer of Ludd — Quartz — https://qz.com/anti-tech-movement-ai-offline-rebellion
Luddite as political insult — NPR — https://www.npr.org/2026/06/19/nx-s1-5853589/luddite-meaning-history-ai
Blood in the Machine — Brian Merchant — https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/brian-merchant/blood-in-the-machine/9780316487740/ or at your library or local bookstore!
Blood in the Machine Substack — Brian Merchant — https://www.bloodinthemachine.com
AI & Us series — DC Public Library — https://dclibrary.libnet.info/event/16823630
Responding to the Climate Impact of Generative AI — MIT Sustainability — https://sustainability.mit.edu/article/responding-climate-impact-generative-ai
Harnessing the Power of AI to Accelerate Climate Solutions — MIT Sloan — https://mitsloan.mit.edu/centers-initiatives/sustainability-initiative/harnessing-power-ai-to-accelerate-climate-solutions
Sustainable AI cohort — Jennifer Turliuk / Maven — 10% off discount with code NONPROFIT. Here is a direct link: https://maven.com/jennifer-turliuk/sustainableai?promoCode=NONPROFIT
AI Acceptable Use Policy Template — Community IT Innovators — https://communityit.com/template-acceptable-use-of-ai-tools-in-the-nonprofit-workplace/
Webinar: AI Maturity Model for Nonprofits — Community IT Innovators — https://communityit.com/webinar-ai-maturity-model-for-nonprofits/

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